Seven Wardens: Books 1-4

Chapter 2-1

CHAPTER 2

Waiting was torture. Macey laughed at the thought. Could she really say that ever again, given what she'd been hearing during her stay here? It'd been a couple of days at the most, probably not even that, and yet she was sure she'd be affected by this for the rest of her life.

When her Wardens had kidnapped her, she'd been annoyed at first. But ultimately, they'd treated her with nothing but respect and kindness. More than that when they were...

No. Those thoughts weren't for here. She wasn't going to sully the memories by thinking about them in this godforsaken place.

"Put off, put off, and row with speed,

For now's the time, and the hour of need!"

Macey sang to herself softly, her voice shaking with the strain. Remembering one of the old songs her mother used to sing to her was helping to drown out the screams and the pleas. She was suddenly very glad of her mother's love of folk songs.

"One of the men was singing that," a familiar voice said, and she looked up to find Luch perched on the windowsill. She shouldn't be surprised, he only really disappeared when she tried to press him further on things.

"Sorry?" She wasn't quite sure what he meant.

"The song you were singing, Queen Mary's Escape from Loch Leven, if I'm not mistaken." He sounded very sure of himself, especially for a mouse.

"What about it?" she asked, nodding her head.

"One of the male prisoners. He was singing it. Well, humming more accurately. According to the other man, he shouldn't even try the singing."

Macey perked up. That sounded a lot like how Bruce and Jerry would act. Bruce loved to sing under his breath but couldn't to save his life. And if the song he'd been humming had been Queen Mary, then it seemed likely that the men in question were her brothers. And if they were...

"What do they look like?" she asked eagerly, hope welling up within her for the first time. She wasn't sure why. There was probably just as little she could do with her brothers down the hall, as she could by herself, but it was something to strive for. And hopefully, if it was them, she could get to the bottom of how they were involved in it all too.

She really shouldn't get her hopes up.

"Men," the mouse said, running its paw over its ear and scratching.

"Not what I meant. Do they look like me?" she asked, heart pounding in her chest as she waited for the answer.

"They're the same shape without the..." The mouse made a gesture around its chest, clearly intending to mean boobs. Despite herself, Macey laughed before firmly clamping her hand over her mouth. She didn't want the guards to hear her, or they'd likely come to investigate. Something that wasn't likely to end all that well for her and would certainly mean that Luch disappeared off to wherever he hid when he wasn't with her.

"No, I mean hair, eyes, voice..." she trailed off, now worrying she'd completely got the wrong end of the stick. It'd wouldn't be good for her mentally if she thought she could save her brothers only for them to turn out to be complete strangers.

That was uncharitable. Saving strangers wouldn't be a bad thing. Quite the contrary. But it also wouldn't be the same as saving her brothers.

"I suppose so, yes. But they're a little bit...bigger than you."

"Taller?" she asked eagerly. "Wider? Stronger? Are they kelpies too?" Why hadn't she thought to ask that sooner? Luch had known what she was, so it was to be expected that he knew what others were imprisoned here too. Her mind strayed to Amber again. She wondered what she was. It seemed unlikely she was just another mage, not from the way Izban was talking about her. But Macey couldn't think of any creature connected to lightning. Maybe her education was lacking in that respect. It wasn't like it affected her people at the bottom of their Loch.

"Yes, yes, not anymore, and I think so. But their aura is a bit funny." Luch scrunched up his nose in a rather comical gesture.

"Funny how?"

Seconds seemed to drag as Macey waited for him to answer. But just when he was about to answer, the loud sound of boots thudding against a hard floor filled the room, and she froze in position. Luch did the same on the windowsill, while exchanging worried looks with her.

"Go," Macey mouthed to him, and he nodded, waving goodbye with one paw and turning to disappear into the wall. Macey c****d her head to the side. Her life really had taken a turn towards the weird recently.

She waited with baited breath as the boots approached, and something deep within her gut told her that this time she wasn't escaping. This time, it was her turn.

Macey's blood turned to ice, and panic began to build within her. Even if there wasn't anything she could do, her fight or flight instinct kicked in. She wasn't naive enough to believe she was stronger than the guards. The Voice really wouldn't leave security in his prison to off chance. They'd outnumber her, and they'd probably be more powerful than her. Their magic likely wouldn't be blocked either.

That just pissed her off. How dare the Voice kidnap her. Her men would be worried sick. And hopefully on their way. It'd save her so much time if they were already here and she didn't have to find them when she escaped.

Plus, she'd need Flint and Cam to get her brothers back to the Loch. No matter how to blame they were or weren't, she wanted them out of the way.

A scratching sound in the door confirmed Macey's fear. It really was her turn. Despite every instinct telling her to turn around, she refused. If this was going to be her last day, then she was going to give at least one last act of defiance.

She wouldn't scream either. No matter what they did to her. Okay, that one was a lie. There'd no doubt come a point where she'd have to scream, but until then, not even a whimper would cross her lips.

"Time to go, Princess," a male voice sneered. It was the same guard she'd heard before, and dread joined the panic.

Instead of letting him drag her, she turned around and looked him in the eye. "Okay, lead the way."

"Oh no, that's not how we do things here. Stretch out your hands."

She only hesitated for a moment, but it was enough for the guard to backhand her. Her cheek was burning and she instinctively covered it with one hand - which the guard used to grab her by the wrist and put a bronze cuff around it.

A shiver went through Macey. Bronze. Oh no. People thought iron was painful to supernaturals, but that was a rumour the fae had spread to protect themselves. In fact, it was bronze they were allergic to. The fae more than most other supernatural species, but for kelpies, it was almost as bad. It didn't hurt physically, but it blocked their magic and their ability to shift. The Voice really had to know a lot about kelpies to use bronze cuffs on her.

Momentarily distracted by the empty feeling spreading through her chest, the guard took her other hand and clipped on the other cuff. He attached a thick rope to the shackles and without another word, started to walk out of the cell, dragging Macey behind him.

She was weak from days without food and struggled to catch up. The fear of being dragged across the dirty ground was all that kept her going.

They passed rows of cells. It was too dark to see if there were any prisoners in there, but if there were, they stayed quiet.

Just when Macey thought that she wouldn't be able to walk for much longer without collapsing, they reached a staircase. Without warning, the guard grabbed her around the waist and threw her over his shoulder as if she was a sack of potatoes.

"Oi!" Macey shouted but it came out as a whimper. She'd not had water since yesterday and her voice was suffering.

In response, the man hit her hard on her bum. She whimpered again both in pain and humiliation. So far, none of the guards had touched her, but it looked like this particular one might be different. And right now, she was completely at his mercy. With her hands shackled, her magic blocked and not able to shift, there wasn't much she could do to defend herself should he start to grope her.

He didn't put her back on the ground when they reached the end of the staircase, but instead continued to carry her on his shoulder. His bones were pressing into her abdomen and it was getting harder for her to breathe. She was almost hoping that they'd reach their destination soon, even though she knew it would probably be worse than what she was going through right now.

They - well, the guard - walked along a bleak corridor before turning right into a courtyard. Macey was expecting to see daylight, but instead, white mist surrounded them. It seemed even thicker than what she was used to from the Staran and it smelled strange... like something was rotting close by. Decay. She started breathing through her mouth, but even so she could taste the wrongness of the mist.

The guard dropped her unceremoniously in the centre of the courtyard and bound the rope connected to her shackles to a pole next to them. She felt as if she was a dog being left behind while its owner did their shopping, and tears of humiliation burned in her eyes.

How the waves did she end up here? And how could she escape?

THERE IS NO ESCAPE, LITTLE KELPIE.

The Voice was booming in her head, louder than ever. She instinctively wanted to cover her ears, but her hands were cuffed.

"What do you want?" she asked feebly, realising how pathetic that sounded.

OH, NOTHING IMPORTANT. ALL I NEED IS YOUR SOUL.

He laughed and Macey thought her head would explode. It hurt so much. Stars were dancing in front of her eyes and her ears were pounding. She was almost hoping that she'd faint from the pain. At least then she wouldn't have to be conscious during whatever he was going to do with her.

NO, YOU WILL STAY AWAKE. YOU WILL FEEL PAIN, YOU WILL FEEL FEAR. I NEED YOU TO SUFFER OR YOU WON'T BE ANY USE TO ME.

"Why? How is that going to help you hurt the Staran?"

She was feeling a bit like she was in a film by now. Keep the bad guy talking in the hope that he'll reveal his evil plans. Even if that meant taking those secrets to the grave.

IS THAT WHAT YOU THINK? THAT I WANT TO DESTROY THE STARAN? OH LITTLE KELPIE, YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW WRONG YOU ARE.

"Then why else are you doing this? Why do you need the Wardens?"

I DON'T NEED YOU. I JUST DON'T WANT YOU TO FULFILL YOUR PURPOSE. SO NOW THAT I HAVE YOU HERE, YOU'RE LIKE ANY OTHER OF MY PRISONERS. I'M GOING TO ENJOY PLAYING WITH YOU THOUGH, YOU HAVE SPIRIT. AND IF YOU'RE STILL AS BRAVE IN THE END, I WILL EAT YOUR SOUL WITH DELIGHT.

"Eat my soul? How is that even possible?"

YOU WILL SEE. SOON. NOW, LET'S HAVE SOME FUN.

There were sounds in the distance. A woman shouting something. Through the thick mist, two people approached. One was the same guard who had brought Macey here, and the other... a young woman around Macey's age, maybe a bit younger. She looked almost too thin to stand and her eyes had a crazed look, even from a distance. She had a bronze collar around her neck, but she wasn't being dragged by the guard. No, she was walking passively by his side.

Macey had a sinking feeling about who the girl might be. And she didn't like that thought one bit.

TWO WARDENS UNDER MY CONTROL. YOU STAND NO CHANCE NOW, LITTLE KELPIE.

The other girl’s head whipped up, and her eyes widened, panic filling them.

“You,” she blurted, half seeming afraid, half relieved. It was almost like she knew who Macey was. Which was impossible, surely?

“Me?”

One of the guards kicked her in the shin, and she hissed, but didn’t cry out. She had bigger things to worry about. Like what would happen if the Voice decided to make Amber attack her. For she had no doubt this was the woman she needed to find.